Education
DESOPADEC unveils 2024/ 2025 bursary scheme for students in mandate areas

The Board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, on Thursday May 8th, 2025 launched the official portal for 2024/2025 students’ bursary scheme to enable indigent students across her mandate areas to apply, beginning from today 8th to 29th of May, 2025.
The Executive Director, Social Services, Chief Favour Izoukumor who launched the 2024/2025 bursary scheme on behalf of the Commission stated that, “This initiative of the Board underscores our collective commitment to education, human capital development and sustainable growth in the oil bearing communities. It is more than a mere financial aid; it’s an investment in human capital, community development and future leadership.”
Chief Izoukumor noted that the need to support the student community cannot be over emphasized, recognizing the financial challenges many students and parents go through in the face of daunting economic challenges in our nation. Hence, the Board ably led by Chief Barr. John Nani and MD/CEO Chief Festus Ochonogor unanimously agreed to embark on this program to bring succor to our people.
Chief Izoukumor further stated that the DESOPADEC Bursary scheme serves as a catalyst for hope, academic excellence and community transformation, stating therefore that “The 2024/2025 DESOPADEC Bursary is a stimulus to advancing educational excellence and encouraging higher enrollment in tertiary institutions, reducing dropout rates amongst students and enabling students to focus on their studies without the burden of financial stress. It is on this note that the Commission has graciously asked all students to apply within the stipulated time frame.”
The portal will be opened from May 8th to May 29th, 2025 for applicants who must be indigenes of the oil producing communities/areas of Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko, Itsekiri, Ika and Ndokwa nationalities; Full time undergraduates in any Nigerian University or Polytechnic; must be in 200 level or above at the time of application and Not a part time, Pre- degree or postgraduate student.
Required Documents to be uploaded in JPEG format and which should not be more than 8MB per file include Recent passport photograph; Valid student ID card; Official admission letter; Letter of Identification from oil Producing Nationalities Students Union; NIN slip (National identity Number) and Certificate of local government of origin.
To apply, all students must create an account on the DESOPADEC Bursary portal; Enter personal details; Provide institution and bank details for disbursement; Upload required documents (JPEG only); Save progress and return later if need be and Review all information before final submission.
Reiterating DESOPADEC ‘s commitment to fostering educational growth and sustainable development in Delta State, Chief Izoukumor urged all eligible students to apply promptly and ensure their submission meets the specific requirements and enjoined all applicants to visit DESOPADEC website or contact Social Services Directorate at https://Www.desopadecbursary.com.ng.
Speaking at the event, the National President of Urhobo ethnic nationality, Comrade Onagba O. Freedom along side Presidents of ethnic nationalities in the Commission’s mandate areas who were on ground to witness the official launch, thanked the Board and State Governor, Rt. Hon. Elder Sheriff Oborevwori for the gesture of giving the students’ community a leap in their educational pursuit in the face of dwindling economic resources in the State.
“We assure you of our continuous support and commitment to adhering to policies and programs of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Elder Sheriff Oborevwori.
Present at the official launch were the Head of Department, Social Services, Mr. Jude Azosibe Elaye; Mrs. Theresa Ogboriaphien, Divisional Head, Youths and Sports; Mr. Ezekiel Ikporikpo and
Mr. Monday Itoghen of the Social Services Directorate of the Commission and aides of the Executive Director, Social Services.
Also in attendance were Comrade Emmanuel Ifeanyi Chukwuji, Ndokwa; Comrade Aweh Nanasentei Johnson Ijaw; Ifeanyi Godsent Ebubechukwu Ika; Efedhoma Shelly, Isoko and Eyitweremi Amajuoritse, Itsekiri ethnic nationalities.
Education
ASUU threatens to sue JAMB over UTME mass failure

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) branch, has threatened to sue the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) over massive failure recorded in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME).
The Chairman of ASUU-UNN, Comrade Óyibo Eze, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Nsukka on Wednesday.
Oyibo said the massive failure which mostly affected candidates from the South East, was a deliberate attempt by JAMB to stop children from the zone from getting admission.
“My office has been inundated with protests, calls and visits by parents and the general public on this deliberate massive failure in 2025 JAMB examination.
“ASUU will challenge this result in High Court if JAMB fails to review the result and give candidates their merited scores.
“JAMB knows that children from South East must score higher before they can get admission whereas their counterparts in some parts of the country will use 120 JAMB score to get admission to read medicine in universities in their area.
“In the JAMB recently released result, out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 examination, over 1.5 million candidates scored less than 200 and majority of these are from the South East and Lagos State where many Igbo reside,” he said.
He called on governors from the South East to rise up and challenge this injustice targeted towards preventing children from the zone from gaining admission into higher institutions in the country.
“The governors in the zone should not sit and watch JAMB toy with academic future of our children.
” I am not against the board punishing those found guilty of exam malpractice but JAMB should not, because of these few candidates, fail the whole candidates in an exam centre,” he said.
The ASUU boss said that it was unbelievable and unacceptable that in the whole University Secondary School, Nsukka, no candidate that sat for the exam scored up to 200 in the UTME.
“This school has superlative students who have excelled in academics both inside and outside the school. How come all of them scored less than 200 in the exam?
“Even if JAMB discovered one or two candidates for exam malpractice, is that enough reason to fail all others who have prepared very hard for that exam,” he said.
Oyibo advised JAMB to act fast to do the needful by reviewing the result as that massive failure had become a national issue which might attract national protest if nothing urgent was done.
Education
JAMB orders review of 2025 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following a wave of public complaints alleging technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores even as thousands of candidates have threatened to sue the examination body.
The Board, in a statement issued by its Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, acknowledged what it described as an “unusual volume of complaints” since the release of the UTME results last Friday.
It said the development had prompted it to fast-track its annual post-examination review process, which typically takes place months after the exercise.
“We are particularly concerned about the unusual complaints originating from a few states within the federation,” Fabian said. “We are currently scrutinising these complaints in detail to identify and rectify any potential technical issues.”.
The spokesperson explained that the annual review covers three stages of the UTME cycle—registration, examination, and result release.
He added that if any faults are found in the system, JAMB would not hesitate to implement “appropriate remedial measures.
“To assist in this process, we have engaged a number of experts, including members from the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, Chief External Examiners, who are heads of tertiary institutions, the Educational Assessment and Research Network in Africa, measurement experts, and Vice Chancellors from various institutions.”
The exam board noted that “If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves.”
JAMB’s intervention comes amid reports that thousands of candidates are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Board over the alleged irregularities.
Many claim they encountered technical malfunctions and inconsistent question displays during the examination.
The controversy reached a boiling point after JAMB revealed in its viral statistical data that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks
Education
Govt sanctions school for selling position of Head Prefect during election

The Anambra State Government has imposed a one-month sanction on Blossom Fount School, Awka, for allegedly selling the position of head prefect during a student election.
This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh.
According to the commissioner, the school reportedly demanded N5,000 from each pupil aspiring to become head prefect in the primary section.
Chuma-Udeh condemned the act, describing it as an attempt to “sell the psyche of the children to the highest bidder from the cradle.”
According to her, such practices are unacceptable under the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
She said that an investigation was ongoing to examine the school’s broader management practices, with the possibility of further actions based on the findings.
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